KL Report
JAMMU
Reacting sharply to the remarks of the BJP President Amit Shah, Provincial President Mr Devender Singh Rana on Saturday described National Conference as a movement and an embodiment of sacrifices for upholding the unity, integrity and the pluralistic culture of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was father of democracy in J&K, who struggled to empower the people of the state and strived to uphold their honour and dignity while maintaining rich tradition of secularism and co-existence”, Rana said in a statement here adding that as and when the state went through turmoil it was National Conference and its cadre which took upon themselves the onerous task of putting it on smooth sails.
Rana said when the entire mainstream political spectrum of the State went into a cocoon for fear of gun and terror in 1996, National Conference, despite having lost hundreds of its cadre, took the challenge under the leadership of Dr. Farooq Abdullah and plunged into the democratic process to rebuild the infrastructure and the institutions which had been destroyed. “Though the fear of gun was looming large, the then National Conference government weathered all threats to restore order and peace in the state”, he said adding that Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani are well aware of the role played by National Conference from 1996 to 2002.
The Provincial President said 2008 saw another crisis where political parties like PDP and BJP stood across the table in a tacit understanding to create a political turmoil by dividing the state on regional, religious lines taking it to the verge of almost trifurcation. “National Conference again stepped in and facilitated restoration of peace”, he said.
Referring to 2008 polls, Rana said yet another challenge was met sagaciously by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who brought the state out of the deep turmoil notwithstanding the fact that tremors of 2008 agitation were felt till summer 2010. The state witnessed peace in the past four years which has no parallel in the past two decades”, he said adding that an era of peace, development and economic resurgence was undertaken under the present regime which has set a new chapter in the state’s polity and economy.
Rana described Amit Shah’s remarks as distortion of history for political convenience and an attempt to boost the sagging morale of the BJP’s state cadre realizing that they are on a weak wicket in J&K.
